October 21 – Ugo’s in at Boro and Shepherd You Old Spoil-Sport

Bryan Robson’s spending hits £80m at Boro, while Freddie Shepard play’s hardball with the FA.

2000 – Ugo’s in at Boro

SUPPORTERS of Bryan Robson’s managerial prowess always used to point to his success at Middlesbrough in his first job as a gaffer. Read more here.

2000 – Shepherd You Old Spoil-Sport

It was on this day in 2000 that one-time FA chief exec and current postman Adam Crozier decided that a 67-year-old man who could never remember his player’s names was the guy to buck England’s ideas up. Click here for the whole story.

Downfall riff number 2,080: Hitler’s not impressed with the potential return of Freddie Shepperd

October 20 – Keegan’s Revenge and Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

Happy days at St James’ and a proper dust-up in today’s trip down memory lane.

1996 – Keegan’s Revenge

NEWCASTLE in living-up-to-fan’s-expectations-shock-horror! Believe it or not, once in generation Newcastle seem to come up with a performance and result that their supporters believe is their destiny.

Today in 1996 Gallowgate’s finest witnessed the high-point of the (first) Kevin Keegan era when they beat Manchester United 5-0 at St James’. Read more.

1990 – Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting

HERE at OTFD we believe that fighting isn’t big or clever and there’s no place for it on the football pitch. Yeah right. Nothing beats a good set of footballing handbags, which is exactly what happened at Old Trafford today in 1990 when Manchester United and Arsenal got stuck into each other. Click here for the full story.

Manchester United fans look away now.

October 19 – Norwich Stun Bayern and ‘Remember the name: Wayne Rooney’

The Canaries are singing on the continent and a certain England striker announces his arrival.

2002 – ‘Remember the name: Wayne Rooney’

A FEW years ago now I turned up on a Saturday afternoon at Goodison Park expecting to see Arsenal outplay and certainly defeat a well organised and spirited, but nevertheless limited Everton team.

After going a goal down, the Toffeemen had managed to equalise through Tomasz Radzinksi and with ten minutes to go it looked like they were going to pull off a creditable draw against the gunners who were on a 30 match unbeaten run.

Cue 16-year-old Wayne Mark Rooney to enter stage left. Young Rooney was already being talked about on Merseyside as something a bit special but he was largely an unknown quantity elsewhere. Not for long, as it was on this day in 2002 that the Roondog scored his first Premier League goal. Click here for the full story.

1993 – Norwich Stun Bayern

IT’S back to 1993 today and a look at the best English result on the continent since D-Day. Back when the Uefa Cup was more than a chance for Harry Redknapp to rest his starting XI, plucky little Norwich City became the only British club to ever beat Bayern Munich in their Olympic Stadium. Read on here.

Seems a very long time ago now…

October 18 – Record Breaker and Haynes Passes Away

We pay tribute to a true legend of the game and north London’s finest va-va-vooms his way into the Arsenal record books in today’s rummage through the OTFD vaults.

2005 – Haynes Passes Away

TO get a mention here at OTFD, let alone your own entry, you have to fulfil certain criteria. You must have had some impact on the world of football, and either been truly exceptional, truly awful, or just truly funny.

Today’s subject was an exceptional player, but his impact on the game went way beyond his footballing talent.

It was on this day in 2005 that Johnny Haynes, latterly of Fulham and England, died aged 71, following a road accident the previous day. Read the full story here.

2005 – Record Breaker

IAN Wright and Thierry Henry never played together, the former having left Arsenal a year before the latter arrived in North London.

Between them the two strikers bagged an incredible 411 goals for the Gunners and it was on this day in 2005 that Henry took Wright’s crown as the club’s record goal scorer. Click here for the whole story.

Plenty more where these came from

October 17 – England Pole-Axed and Cash in the Attic

England get done by a clown and financial meltdown in Leeds, 80 years before Peter Ridsdale got involved with his goldfish.

1973 – England Pole-Axed

SEVEN years earlier, Sir Alf and his England side had been the toast of the nation, having reached football nirvana in the 1966 World Cup final. But today in 1973 was a different story, as England fell short in their attempts to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, as Poland held them to a 1-1 draw at Wembley. Read the full story here.

1919 – Cash in the Attic

Like a football version of Atlantis, Leeds City is the ancient lost club of football, and it was today in 1919 that the book was closed on the final sorry chapter in its history. Click here for the whole story.

The beginning of the end for Sir Alf.

October 16 – Same Old England and Messi Makes His Mark

The world’s best player makes his bow and the England cliche machine is in full effect in today’s OTFD round-up.

2004 – Messi Makes His Mark

ANYTIME over the last twenty years that half decent Argentinian youngster comes to the fore, he’s immediately been dubbed ‘the new Maradona’. Players such as Ariel Ortega, Carlos Marinelli, Andres D’Alessandro and Javier Saviola are just some of the poor souls that have been burdened with the tag and not lived up to the hype.

Today in 2004 saw the Barcelona debut of perhaps the closest player we’ve got to El Diego yet, when Lionel Messi took the field for Los Cules against their local rivals Espanyol. Click here for more.

2002 – Same Old England

TODAY we’re looking at a game that encapsulates the frustration of following England. Dodgy goalkeeping error? Check. New player on the left? Check. Hot-head striker losing their rag when the tough gets going? Check. Failure to beat one of international football’s minnows? Check. Back in 2002 it was the turn of Macedonia to frustrate England as they held them to a 2-2 draw at St. Mary’s. Read on here.

Safe to say he’s kicked on a bit since his debut.

October 15 – Cloughy Quits Derby and Stan the Man

Ego’s abound at the Baseball Ground as Stan stumbles in today’s trip down memory lane.

1999 – Stan the Man

Stan the Man Collymore has seen the highs of playing for Liverpool and England and the lows of tabloid stories about his relationship with Ulrika Jonsson and his fondness for car parks.

It was on this day in 1999 however that a reluctant Stan was forced to crawl back to Villa after a loan spell at Fulham did not turn into a permanent deal. Click here for the whole story.

1973 – Cloughy Quits Derby

IF you thought that signing Robbie Savage was the most foolish thing Derby County have ever done then think again. Today in 1973 chairman Sam Longson’s ego got the better of him as he forced County manager Brian Clough out. Read the full story.

We miss Ol’ Big ‘Ead.

October 14 – Goalkeeper’s Folly and Don’t Mention the War and

A tale of three ‘keepers today – two unlucky and one just stupid.

1996 – Don’t Mention the War

THEY say timing is everything in comedy – a principle well-known funny man and some-time goalkeeper Mark Bosnich should really have listened to.

For example Mark, if you decide it would be absolutely side-splittingly hilarious to do a quick Nazi salute, probably best to time it so you are not standing on a football pitch surrounded by 40,000 baying Spurs fans – many of them Jewish.

It was on this day in 1996 that Bosnich was hauled before the FA beaks after they had a sense of humour failure and charged him with misconduct for his comedy-gold gag. Click here for the whole sorry story.

2006 – Goalkeeper’s Folly

On this day in 2006 two Chelsea goalkeepers had to be carried from the field of play after coming a cropper during their match at Reading. Read on here.

Ouch.

October 13 – Did He Not Like That and the First Merseyside Derby

One of English football’s great modern-day catchphrases is uttered for the first time as one of the game’s great derbies is born in today’s football history round-up.

1993 – Did He Not Like That

England met Holland in the de Kuip Stadion in Rotterdam for the decisive game of the 1994 World Cup qualification campaign today in 1993. The victors would be in the box seat for qualification while the losers would be contemplating a long football-less summer in 1994. Find out what happened here.

1894 – First Ever Merseyside Derby

WHERE would football be without it’s derbies? Passion, glory, local bragging rights and sometimes even silverware are up for grabs when two great rivals meet. Today in 1894 saw the first installment of English football’s biggest derby, as Everton and Liverpool fans were telling each other to ‘calm down’ as the Merseyside Derby was played out for the first time. Click here for the whole story.

Graham Taylor lets the hacks have it

October 12 – He Walked the Line and England Book Their Place in Germany

Every England fan’s favourite official dies and Sven’s men make it to the World Cup in today’s round up from the OTFD vaults.

1993 – He Walked the Line

IT was on this day in 1993 that the man who won England the world cup in 1966 popped his clogs.

Geoff Hurst? Bobby Moore? Sir Alf Ramsey? No, it was on this day that Tofik Bakhramov passed away. Read all about it here.

2005 – England Book Their Place in Germany

England booked their place in the 2006 World Cup at a chilly Old Trafford today in 2005, to set up another summer of metatarsal and penalty shoot out woe. Click here for the full story.

Cheers Tofik!